By Jacob Ajom

As Nigeria continues the search for a substantive coach for the national team, a former international, Okey Isima has advised the Nigeria Football Federation to stop the search as what the national team required now was not a coach but a general manager.

eagles

Speaking with Sports Vanguard at the national stadium Lagos, Thursday, the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations winner said the appointment of a general manager for the Eagles would foreclose the search for a coach as the hiring of one would be part of the responsibilities of the new general manager.

Isima said, he was the best man for the job, but insisted he would not apply for the job.
Said Isima, “make me the GM, I will rebuild the team from scratch. For instance, it is not the place of the NFF to invite players to camp.

It is not the place of the NFA to recruit a coach because once the coaches still work under the NFF, nothing can work. The coach too should have nothing to do with the NFF, rather he should relate with his GM.”

The former Rangers International Football club of Enugu player said “If I am hired as the GM, I will tell Nigerians what I want to do and the coach I want.”

Isima was asked between coaches Austin Eguavoen, Samson Siasia and Stephen Keshi who would he have gone for if he were made the GM. The former international cut in, “you don’t need an Eguavoen, Siasia or Keshi.

FAs don’t hire coaches. They hired Berti Vogts, it never worked, hired Amodu Shaibu, it didn’t work. They went for Lars Lagerback, he came took our money and fled. Just give me the job and you will see what I can do,” he emphasised.

He remarked that as the GM of the Eagles, he would jettison the idea of overdependence on foreign based professionals and concentrate on the home-based players.

“We have millions of players here in our local league. If I were the GM I don’t think more that four foreign-based players could have made my team. We only need to start using the home-based players to make them grow in confidence . Once it works out fine, people’s mentality will change,” he remarked,” even as he stressed that he would not beg anybody because he can’t talk to politicians.